1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of bottles and containers, and in particular, to locking systems that can be used to seal a variety of bottles and containers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of beverage and food storage containers are known. Some, like soda cans, are intended for single use and therefore are sealed only when unopened. Once opened using a “pop-top,” for example, the container cannot, nor need not, be resealed. Other containers, like plastic beverage bottles used for soda and bottled water, can be resealed after opening. These containers provide a threaded cap and rim that can be resealed, preventing spillage while maintaining freshness. These containers are not necessarily designed for prolonged use, however, as the plastic materials of both the bottle and the cap eventually deteriorate.
A wide variety of other storage containers exist with an equally wide variety of sealing mechanisms. Traditional Tupperware®, for example, uses a plastic bottom container in conjunction with a lid comprising a groove that cooperatively mates with the sidewalls of the container. The lid is placed on top of the container and pushed down to force the groove in the lid over the walls of the container, creating a seal.
A variety of mechanisms also exist that are intended to seal reusable beverage containers, such as reusable water bottles. The popularity of these reusable containers has grown with consumer awareness of the environmental implications of single-use plastic beverage containers. These mechanisms vary from screw-on tops with resilient seals, i.e., o-rings, to hinged tops with latching mechanisms. These mechanisms work well enough for their intended purposes, but tend to degrade as the o-rings or seals become worn or compressed or as the latches break.
What is needed, therefore, is a robust sealing system adaptable for use with a variety of containers that positively seals the container in a repeatable way with minimal wear to the sealing surfaces. It is to such a system that embodiments of the present invention are primarily directed.